Failed American idol becomes internet's latest accidental hero
When Sha Tin son William Hung took his gracious leave from the American Idol TV show, he became a surprise sensation.
Just as the Net's last accidental hero, the Star Wars Kid, generated scores of re-edited videos, Mr Hung's vocal prowess is being celebrated in amateur remixes of his She Bangs performance.
Fan site Williamhung.net has several original performances, and 65,000 people have signed an online petition calling for him to be sent to Hollywood.
By yesterday, eBay auctioneers were selling badges, key rings and a dozen different T-shirts. Stranger still, among the items on sale at CafePress is a rather disturbing William Hung thong.
Sadly, Mr Hung appears to be earning nothing from the sudden exploitation of his failure, though Williamhung.net at least promises to buy him an iPod if they sell enough T-shirts.
Last November, we received an e-mail from the president of Californian hi-tech networkers The Business Forum that caught our attention. Headed 'I am a fool', the e-mail from John Hathaway-Bates admitted: 'End of last week I sent out an e-mail saying: 'It is amazing that George Carlin - gross and mouthy comedian of the 70s and 80s - could write something so very eloquent ... and so very appropriate post-9/11.'
If Mr Hathaway-Bates had checked, he would have discovered that the piece, titled The Paradox of Our Age, was in fact by a disgraced ex-pastor named Bob Moorehead.
'That will teach me to check everything - twice - even when it comes from people I have trusted for years,' he wrote.
Last Tuesday, Mr Hathaway-Bates sent out another strange message that appeared to be a test message advertising a bulk e-mail program.
The next day, we got another note of contrition under the heading 'We got stolen'. 'My sincere apologies to everyone,' Mr Hathaway-Bates wrote. 'A couple of days back we tried to send out the report below but our IP got hijacked and everyone got messages we did not send. We think we have now fixed it.'
So what was the report on? What else, but information systems security.
With an eye on the kind of fatties who need both hands to hold their junk food, a Florida company named HiStar has launched what it claims is the world's first hands-free combined radio and binoculars.
'Our new T-8000 Series is a revolution in the binocular industry,' said chief executive Tristram Himmele. 'This feature-rich binocular will be an asset to sports enthusiasts, nature buffs and surveillance users.'
Some people may feel awkward wearing binoculars walking in the country or following an errant partner, but there are countless other uses. Computer workers could sit 100 metres from their monitors to avoid eye strain. Jains could use them to avoid stepping on insects. But if you are in a sports stadium so vast you need binoculars and earphones to know what's going on, why not save your money and watch the game on TV?
